And why you should go pick them up too
Any English major can tell you they are a convincing bullshitter. I took dozens of literature courses for my degree and was assigned even more books to read. Did I read any of these books? Some, yes but most, no. Did I graduate with a decent GPA and write papers and give presentations on these books I didn’t read? Yes, yes I did. And so did many of my classmates and colleagues.
I was talking to a friend the other night and she asked for some book suggestions. She’s been getting really into fiction lately, whereas most of what I…
I shouldn’t have wasted my time
As an English major, I was an avid reader growing up. Right up until I was sixteen or seventeen years old, you could always find me with a book in hand, in purse, in car; everywhere.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve lost the desire to read constantly. I believe part of that is due to the fact that I read so many books throughout my time at university. I was forced to read for a grade, and therefore didn’t want to read anymore.
Of course there were some books that I loved, but many that were not worth it. …
It’s a little bit of a roller coaster if we’re being honest
Sometimes people ask me “how do you get your ideas?” Just the other day I was texting with a friend who asked me where I come up with all of the articles I write and send her.
It took me a second to think of an answer. I truly didn’t know, and I still don’t.
“Sometimes I will read something that another creator wrote and it’ll inspire an idea for me,” I ended up telling her. It’s not an untrue answer but it’s far more complicated than that.
Often times I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and…
And what you can do about it
I am a firm believer that everyone can benefit from therapy. However, not everyone likes therapy. Maybe you’ve had a bad experience with therapy, maybe you had a bad therapist, maybe you’ve never tried it before. But those of us that are in therapy join for a myriad of reasons.
In my instance, I started seeing a therapist because I was having panic attacks and suicidal ideation when I was living in the dorms at my university. …
It’s not all about physical health
A few months ago I began seeing a new psychiatrist. After our initial intake appointment, she sent me for some lab work. I have a history of hypothyroidism — which affects my hormone balance and can influence my mood — so we wanted to make sure everything looked good before changing any of my meds. We also agreed to check some of my general vitals like B12 and Vitamin D.
Unsurprisingly given my work-from-home and relatively couch potato lifestyle, I was extremely deficient in Vitamin D. …
My very real numbers from my first year writing on Medium
It’s been almost exactly one year since I started writing on Medium. I saw Joanna Henderson wrote an article highlighting her highs and lows of her first year, and seeing as we both started writing on the site at the same time, I thought I would add my experience to the conversation.
Medium has been through a dozen and a half ups and downs in the last year; there have been changes to the curation criteria and system, stats have dropped even for large creators, the list goes on and on.
Right off the bat I want to say that…
It was more than just boredom
I wrote my first poem in seventh grade. It was a eulogy for my recently deceased dog, Charlie. It was free verse and very long, and probably not very good. However, it brought tears to my dad’s eyes because Charlie was more his dog than the family dog. Seeing that my words could evict such emotion from someone like my dad felt really cool.
I remember submitting the poem to my middle school’s literary magazine. It was the whole grade and it was basically just a stapled packet of papers but it was my poem that made it in the…
From the smartest guy I know to everyone else
I really lucked out in the Dad Department. I got the coolest and smartest guy ever to raise me. He really is the best father a girl could have. He’s dependable, he’s patient, and he’s always got open ears to learn something new.
My dad has taught me everything I know from how to ride a bike, to how to throw a baseball, to the basics of coding and computer programming, to how I should be treated in a relationship. He’s the bees knees.
Aside from everything, there are three lessons that have stood against the test of time that…
From someone who is probably not fine
I recently started seeing a new psychiatrist to help manage my medication. We ended up adding in a new medication to help with my increasing feelings of depression. She had me get some bloodwork done, too, and we discovered that my Vitamin D levels are horrifically low. To help with that I was also instructed to buy supplements at the grocery store, which I have now been taking daily for a few weeks now.
For a while after starting this new regime, things were almost good. I was feeling confident, I was feeling productive, I had more good mood days…
I know you’re going to disagree with me
I’m what I like to call an “ex-avid reader.” I used to devour books in mere hours, I used to spend all of my birthday and Christmas money at Barnes & Noble, and I would cancel plans with friends if I was in the middle of a really good story.
While I still like to think of myself as a reader, I’m not nearly as committed to it as I once was. I still love to read and learn, but my tastes have changed. Not to mention the amount of free time I have has changed too.
However, seeing as…
